Page 7 - College Boot Camp Instructor's Guide #11 Handling Stress

INTRODUCTION

College Boot Camp — The Big Picture

Welcome to the College Boot Camp!

The College Boot Camp is a 15-hour course designed to give students the tools for
thriving in college before they arrive and at the beginning: information, skills, and

systems. The purpose of the College Boot Camp is to create experiences, opportunities, and
transferable skill to look forward to the next time they engage. Students will build on their
skills and knowledge, and be able to tie together career, personal, and professional well-
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being.
The College Boot Camp is designed to impact the high dropout rate of first-year
college students. When over 30% of freshman don’t come back for their sophomore year,
it’s time to gear-up incoming freshman for the realities of college life. College is so much
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more than just classes and grades. It’s graduating from dependence to independence,
developing the adulting skills needed to self-manage, by learning how to develop your own
support systems, routines, and structure. A college setting introduces a lot of first for many
students - managing money, housing, friends, schedules, meals, intensive homework,
projects and exams, balancing personal down-time and focused study, not to mention
dealing with personal hygiene, laundry, and figuring out what to do when you’re sick or
missing the support from home.

The most common reasons freshmen don’t make it to their second year are money
concerns, poor preparation- whether academically or in personal management, outside
demands in life, experiencing too much, too fast – with a lack of structure and guidance, and
not feeling connected to the school. The College Boot Camp is designed to give students
a realistic look at the college experience and to help them develop the skills needed
to SURVIVE and THRIVE independently in a college setting.

Boot camps are designed to be intense. If you think of military boot camp, you see a
structured experience designed for people to learn, repeat skills, and push themselves
physically, and mentally. Whether you present your College Boot Camp in a 3-day session
or choose to spread out topics over a 15 week period, be aware there’s a lot to cover…
Students will have homework from every session – from reading a pamphlet and doing an
exercise, tracking their food, exercise and sleep for the day or week, tracking their skills in
various exercises, creating a first-aid kit for college, planning a budget, developing a vision
board, or researching details on life at their chosen school. These are the skills your
students want to learn, so don’t be afraid to push them!
College Boot Camp is designed to be interactive, engaging, and embraces technology–

Students can interact over a classroom website to share tips and websites, develop video
clips, share photos, create college hacks, share dorm recipes and submit homework.
Students will be using their phones for research, documenting their experiences, and
learning how to make the most of the tools they have. Our goal with the College Boot
Introduction College Boot Camp - Instructor’s Manual 1
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